Sugarloaf students pitch in to help hurricane survivors

Sugarloaf Elementary School’s Enrichment Group of third-graders has been collecting coins to raise money for gloves for the young survivors of Hurricane Sandy. Their goal was set at $125 to cover 1,000 cold fingers, and 8-year-old Riley Elliott, right, says they’ve already passed it. Jonathan Torres-Tomas, left, holds the plastic jar that contains the relief money they will be sending up north with a teacher heading to New Jersey for Christmas.

When the group of nine students heard about the thousands affected by the "Frankenstorm," — brought home by the fact that a teacher at the school, Ashley Gilroy, had relatives in New Jersey — they decided to help. On Nov. 7, they began researching Hurricane Sandy and looking at pictures of the storm's aftermath.

"You can see the water flooding into the subway," said 9-year-old Zaire Fauntleroy, pointing to a picture they saw which is now pasted on a poster advertising their collection drive. They remember the images: a roller coaster submerged in water, a home washed into the middle of a street and a rescue worker holding a baby.

Then came a brainstorm of solutions: "Mikey (Sharpe) and me said we could get a big plane that has a hatch that opens up on the bottom. (Through the hatch) we could scoop up the water and take it out load by load," Fauntleroy said.

They also thought of a food drive, a clothing drive and a change drive. They took a vote. Renting a plane with a giant scooper would take money. Shipping a collection of food and clothes would also take some extra cash. So they went with collecting coins, and named their effort "Change for Changing Lives."

"We talked to Principal Mrs. (Sallie) Carr and she said it was a great idea," Elliott said.

"This way, all of the money they raise will go up there instead of money having to be taken away for shipping," added their teacher, Pat Taylor.

The Enrichment Group plans to cash in the change for a check on Dec. 14. Gilroy will take the check with her when she flies up for the holidays and use it to buy gloves.

"It will be a Christmas miracle," Elliott said with a smile.

Gilroy returned from Thanksgiving break with newspapers chronicling the ongoing need and relief efforts up north. Armed with a goal, the students designed posters to advertise their cause and used the school's intercom to spread the news.

After writing "Please help the victims of Hurricane Sandy" on a poster, Torres-Tomas, on second thought, marked through "victims" and replaced it with "survivors."

Elliott pasted an American flag on a poster, she said, because "even if something hurts America, we can still fight it off and we can still be a survivor."

The students are also collecting paper products such as paper towels, diapers, wet wipes and toilet paper. The donations will go to Hearts with Hands for distribution to Sandy survivors.

<p>When Hurricane Sandy brought chaos and destruction to the Northeast, it also lit a spark for change in the hearts of third-graders at Sugarloaf Elementary. </p><p>The school's Enrichment Group has been collecting coins to raise money for gloves — a "Christmas miracle," they say, for students their age who lost so much.</p><p>The group's goal was set at $125 "to cover 1,000 cold fingers," and 8-year-old Riley Elliott says they've already passed it. Nine-year-old Jonathan Torres-Tomas did the math.</p><p>When the group of nine students heard about the thousands affected by the "Frankenstorm," — brought home by the fact that a teacher at the school, Ashley Gilroy, had relatives in New Jersey — they decided to help. On Nov. 7, they began researching Hurricane Sandy and looking at pictures of the storm's aftermath.</p><p>"You can see the water flooding into the subway," said 9-year-old Zaire Fauntleroy, pointing to a picture they saw which is now pasted on a poster advertising their collection drive. They remember the images: a roller coaster submerged in water, a home washed into the middle of a street and a rescue worker holding a baby.</p><p>Then came a brainstorm of solutions: "Mikey (Sharpe) and me said we could get a big plane that has a hatch that opens up on the bottom. (Through the hatch) we could scoop up the water and take it out load by load," Fauntleroy said.</p><p>They also thought of a food drive, a clothing drive and a change drive. They took a vote. Renting a plane with a giant scooper would take money. Shipping a collection of food and clothes would also take some extra cash. So they went with collecting coins, and named their effort "Change for Changing Lives." </p><p>"We talked to Principal Mrs. (Sallie) Carr and she said it was a great idea," Elliott said.</p><p>"This way, all of the money they raise will go up there instead of money having to be taken away for shipping," added their teacher, Pat Taylor.</p><p>The Enrichment Group plans to cash in the change for a check on Dec. 14. Gilroy will take the check with her when she flies up for the holidays and use it to buy gloves. </p><p>"It will be a Christmas miracle," Elliott said with a smile. </p><p>Gilroy returned from Thanksgiving break with newspapers chronicling the ongoing need and relief efforts up north. Armed with a goal, the students designed posters to advertise their cause and used the school's intercom to spread the news.</p><p>After writing "Please help the victims of Hurricane Sandy" on a poster, Torres-Tomas, on second thought, marked through "victims" and replaced it with "survivors."</p><p>Elliott pasted an American flag on a poster, she said, because "even if something hurts America, we can still fight it off and we can still be a survivor."</p><p>The students are also collecting paper products such as paper towels, diapers, wet wipes and toilet paper. The donations will go to Hearts with Hands for distribution to Sandy survivors.</p><p>Manning the Enrichment Group's efforts along with Elliott, Fauntleroy and Torres-Tomas are Devin White, Nicole Cid Hernandez, Lewis Stepp, Mikey Sharpe, Raphaella Alvarez-Poblete and Mason McCracken. </p><p>A proud Taylor reminded her students of how important their special mission is and how the little acts they do today add up to the big picture in the future. </p><p>"Will this go on our resume?" Elliott asked. "'When I was in third grade, I helped victims of Hurricane Sandy'." </p><p>"Survivors," corrected Torres-Tomas.</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>